Uploaded on 2015-06-08 by SimonObendorf

This photograph, taken in Kolkata, West Bengal, demonstrates both the dependence of so many on electricity (to the extent that power theft is a major issue) as well as the attempts to legally, physically and infrastructurally protect states'/corporations' ability to privatise and charge for this (public?) "good". The fact that there is an irregular connection visible entering the upstairs shuttered window of the building behind the warning sign demonstrates the difficult of policing and enforcing such measures. Of course the irregular siphoning of power is terribly unsafe, leading to potential death and injury both at the time of "hooking up" to the supply as well as in the use of unregulated connections. The future design of Kolkata's human habitat - and the sustainability of the territory in which it is situated, which is increasingly being dotted with coal- and gas-fired power stations - is one that is going to require far greater engagement with the politics, sociology, engineering and planning of electricity generation, distribution and pricing. Similarly, safeguarding the well-being of citizens and improving the urban amenity of cities like Kolkata will require greater attention to be paid to these issues. ![Warning on an Electricity Pole, Kolkata India][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14337947625874485.jpg